All Forum Posts by: Sandy Uhlmann

@Ned Carey I called Equity Trust Company and verbalized my displeasure with them letting them know that essentially people that wanted to purchase tax liens online are unable to do so with the current way that Equity handles purchasing tax liens within the IRA. I told them that this is the wave of the future and that they need to find a way to address this problem or they will be finding that investors will be choosing other SDIRA companies over Equity and/or will be transferring their assets, or at least their cash in their accounts because of this. I told them that this was being discussed on the BiggerPocket forum currently and they need to address this issue swiftly.

I might be looking for another SDIRA company that allows checkbook control as I don't see much option if I want to continue to invest in online tax liens.  Recommendations anyone?

I was/am concerned about the same thing but more from the perspective of accounting and reporting income to the IRS rather than from the aspect of borrower compliance with payment.  Its nice to have a servicer to handle that aspect but it does cut into your profit.  For that reason, I decided to purchase the note with my HSA.  I can log in every month to my SDIRA account and make sure the payments arrive and because it is in my SDIRA I don't need to worry as much about reporting income because it is taxed when I use it when I retire.  With my other investments I use FCI or Madison management as my servicer.  Darren Eady's product comes with servicing included in the cost but the cost of his first trust deeds are in the $30,000-$50,000 range. (Servicing fees are passed onto the borrower I believe) Thus far, I have never missed a payment and they often double up payments or pay extra.  These small notes are very appealing because most of them will double in  a little over 5 years and then you can purchase another one and rinse and repeat.  I am aware that the risk is there.  I am getting ready to purchase another one within my HSA though because so far it has paid well.  I have talked to JW several times and I always tell him to pick me one where the borrower is someone that he deals with all the time and that has NEVER defaulted on a payment.  Can't hurt to ask.   I do check out the house and compare my purchase price against the zestimate and do some other minor due dil.

Worst scenerio, they stop paying, you foreclose and get the house, although you may not want it, you could probably sell it and at least get your money out of it since most of these are in the sub $20,000 range.

I would like to use my SDIRA money to purchase tax liens. At the moment, I am just looking at the online OTC liens but in the future, live auctions may be another option. I know people do use SDIRA funds to purchase these but with these needing near-immediate payment, I am struggling to figure out how this is accomplished outside of a checkbook IRA account. I have Equity Trust Company and I have a Tax Lien DOI. Each DOI has an area where you list addresses and Parcel numbers you are bidding on and then an area where you can request the amount of funding. I understand how this can work for a live tax sale but what about the online sales? Most require that checking account info to pay for the lien. I doubt that the county is OK with a certified check that would take days to arrive?

How do those of you that purchase online OTC tax liens through a SDIRA accomplish this?

Additionally, my SDIRA company requires the appointment of a tax lien servicer.  Do these exist?  I guess the statement from Equity does go on and say that the retirement account owner.  Does anyone use a tax lien servicer?

Here is the paragraph from the DOI:

"To purchase tax liens for a self-directed Retirement Account, Equity Trust Company requires the appointment of a tax lien servicer. The servicer may be an independent purchasing agent or the Retirement Account Owner, as long as the Retirement Account Owner does not receive any compensation for performing this service. The agent will be responsible for providing the custodian with the necessary information to properly administer the account. The following agreement lists the responsibilities of the Retirement Account Owner and/or the Tax Lien Purchasing Agent......."

@Tiffany Warren I still love notes but my non-performing seconds, at least the ones that I purchased before I knew anything about due dil. have been a disappointment thus far.

  I love performing firsts and first trust deeds.  It is nice to be able to receive a fixed return and not have to work to receive it.

   I have not invested in any non-performing firsts yet.  I guess I will learn that aspect of the business if/when one of my performing firsts stop paying.  

I really would like to purchase some non-institutional performing notes (mom and pop owner financed notes) or originate my own within the limits of Dodd Frank.

When looking at OTC tax liens, I am noticing that several of these properties list "TAXEase, LLC" as the owner. When I google this, it seems that they are a company that offers property tax loans to owners to help pay off the property taxes. This company is listed as the owners of these properties. I was wondering if anyone had purchased tax liens owned by this company? They seem to be in the tax lien business, would this seem like this would be a reasonable chance of redemption?

I was wondering if there were any BP members out there investing in tax lien certificates in Missouri?  I know that most tax lien investors don't invest in tax liens in MO because you are required (with some exceptions) to be a resident.  I would love to connect with anyone buying tax lien certificates in MO or anyone that might be interested in residential lots in a prime vacation area in MO.  I have seen these lots.  Very buildable.  Being new to tax liens, I fear that I would be stuck with these lots if they don't redeem and I wouldn't have the marketing power to sell them. 

@John Thedford Thanks for the advice. The liens that I referenced are county owned/struck off (after auction) and are at 18%. I am just trying to figure out if these are easy to get redeemed and if it doesn't get redeemed, is this something that someone will pick up eventually at the deed sale or is it something that I would be stuck with (good or bad-I'm not sure!) if no one purchases it at the deed sale? I am skeptical anytime an HOA is involved.

I will admit, hard money lending does sound interesting.

I am a newbie to the tax lien investing arena. I have noticed several liens for purchase that are on parking spaces or garages in condo communities near prime (Florida) vacation areas. Are these liens that are likely to be redeemed? If they are not redeemed by the property owner, does the HOA step in in some manner or does it go to the tax deed sale in two years? If these go to the deed sale, is this actually something that would be purchased or is there some sort of messy HOA entanglement that would make this deed unattractive for an investor to purchase the deed at the sale?

I am just trying to figure out if this is, or is not a good tax lien to purchase.

I wonder if Podio could be used? I have never used it for this purpose but I know that wholesalers use this with great success because it helps them task their VA's, and vendors and keep track of the properties. Has anyone out there used Podio for this purpose?

I am in the process of purchasing a small performing first.  Collateral seems to be intact except that I noticed that the loan mod from 2011 was never recorded.  Is this ever an issue?  Is this normal for it not be recorded?  If I were to get it recorded at this point in time does that create issues also given that it has gone through at least 2 other owners (thus 2 assignments of mortgage) since the mod was originated?